Breaking news, sport, traffic and weather from around Birmingham and the West Midlands as it happened

Welcome to Monday's Birmingham Mail live news service, covering Birmingham and the West Midlands. We'll be making sure that you are the first to know what's happening across our region.If there's something you've noticed and want us to check out then feel free to get in touch - call us on 0121 234 5430, tweet @birminghammail, or email newsdesk@birminghammail.co.uk

7.02am

Jasbir Authi

NEWS: Morning. Hope you had a good weekend.

I just had the Saturday off. Did you get your Christmas shopping done? I'll be bringing you all the news, travel and weather in the region until 11.30am.

7.10am

Jasbir Authi

TRAVEL: It's not even 8am and some roads are closed due to a few incidents

Haden Way is closed in both directions due to accident which happened in the early hours of this morning. Recovery work is taking place between Moseley Road and Edward Road and police are directing traffic.

Moor Street Queensway is closed due to fire in an apartment block at The Priory Queensway at Masshouse Lane and Albert Street. I'll bring you more details about these incidents shortly.

7.18am

Jasbir Authi

NEWS: Fire crews are currently attending a fire at a city centre apartment block.

The blaze broke out on the 12th floor of the 14 storey block on Masshouse Lane, near Moor Street Queensway, in the early hours of this morning. Crews from Highgate, Ladywood, Aston and Kings Norton stations are dealing with the incident.

All the residents are accounted for. Moor Street Queensway has been closed while the fire is being tackled.

7.31am

Jasbir Authi

NEWS: Fire crews are attending a blaze at a high rise apartment block in the city centre.

They have just tweeted that there are NO road closures around the incident site at Moor Street Queensway. All residents in the 14 storey building are all accounted for.

7.37am

Jasbir Authi

NEWS: Many of you may have read about the tragic crash near Tamworth in which three members of the same family were killed.

School technician Maggie Stewart, 42, son Damian, 16, and his cousin Dion Walker-Smith, 15, died in a devastating four vehicle pile-up on Friday.

Grief counsellors will be at the school they attended today to help their fellow pupils. Read more here.

7.44am

Jasbir Authi

TRAVEL: London Midland passengers are facing disruption this morning. Trains running from Birmingham New Street and Lichfield Trent Valley are delayed due to train late from the depot.Trains can run through on the Cross-City line but some have been cancelled and others may be delayed by up to 15 minutes. There's currently no estimate for when normal service will resume.

7.57am

Jasbir Authi

NEWS: Kendrick Avenue in Shard End is closed in both directions due to serious police incident at Freasley Road. I've just spoken to the police and will ll be bringing you more details in a second.

Police directing traffic

8.02am

Jasbir Authi

NEWS: Police have launched an investigation after a man was seriously assaulted in Birmingham.

The man was taken to hospital following the assault in Shard End around 6.30pm yesterday. Two men have been arrested .Kendrick Avenue in Shard End has been cordoned off by police while they carry out further enquiries

8.12am

Jasbir Authi

NEWS: Sluggish start to the rush hour. There is queueing traffic on Birmingham Road at Burnt Tree and congestion due to building fire at an apartment block on Moor Street Queensway at Masshouse Lane.

There's also heavy traffic on Alcester Road South around Addison Road (Sainsburys) in Kings Heath.

8.20am

Jasbir Authi

NEWS: Fire crews are currently attending a blaze at a high rise apartment block in Masshouse Lane in the city centre.

Moor Street Queensway is not closed but there are a number of traffic diversions in place. Buses services are affected and some passengers are being moved to Corporation Street.

8.27am

Jasbir Authi

NEWS: A West Midlands Police officer is to appear At Stafford Crown Court today in relation to child sex offences.

The 33-year-old - who has been suspended from his South Birmingham police role since April 2012- faces four counts of sexual activity with a child under the age of 16. He denies all the charges.

8.36am

Jasbir Authi

TRAVEL: Please be aware that there are traffic problems around Moor Street Queensway because of an earlier flat fire in a high rise block.

This is impacting on bus services too. Elsewhere, there are delays on the Cross City Line because of a late train leaving the depot.

8.47am

Jasbir Authi

NEWS: Police have closed off a road after a man was seriously assaulted in Birmingham.

The man was taken to hospital following the assault in Shard End around 6.30pm on Sunday.

TRAVEL: It's been a very busy morning. I'll bring you more on the state of the roads.

Most of the major routes into town are slow. There's congestion due to the flat fire between Masshouse Lane and Jennens Road in the city centre. The Chester Road at Tyburn House is also bad because of the roadworks.

9.05am

Jasbir Authi

NEWS: A police officer will appear in court today in relation to child sex charges.

All of the charges relate to alleged sexual activity whilst the officer was off duty. The 33-year-old's trial is due to start today at Stafford Crown Court. Read more here.

9.11am

Jasbir Authi

WEATHER: I haven't told you about the weather today. It's been cold but pretty nice lately.

Today, we are looking at temperatures of 7C with a potential high of 11C. It will be dry and sunny.

Not too bad eh?

9.14am

Jasbir Authi

News: With budgets stretched as Christmas approaches, who wouldn't want an 11 per cent pay rise?We're using the medium of Twitter to ask MPs across our region if they are keeping the generous salary bump recommended by the Parliamentary watchdog Ipsa.We'll keep you posted on their responses.